The Blood Knight: Skeletons In The Closet 02
Featured Characters Daniel12.jpg|Daniel Handler The WIfe.jpg|Rachel "The Spade" 96d163b8b75d9148cc498aae670d5647.jpg|Tina Young Trails (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlH6zD8wisg ) ////Many Years ago\\\\ The left hand of the assassin fighting a younger adult Daniel smashes into his jaw forcing blood out of the young super soldier’s mouth. The fight carries on into almost fifteen minutes straight of back and forth hand to hand combat. After taking the punch Daniel falls back to all fours now with his back sliced open from the blade opening him up earlier in the fight. Blood drips down from his back and begins to pool around the ground, giving the snow a bright crimson hue to it. Remaining conscious however Daniel shows the tenacity to have a never say die attitude and that only brings the assassin to get more and more frustrated at being unable to put Daniel down. The rowdy male spits out some blood as he makes his way back up to his feet. His smile reveals the blood stained teeth as more of that crimson liquid spills over his lips. There is a cut over his right eye from being hit that forms a line of blood that flows down his right cheek all the way down to the base of his chin. The tank top he had been wearing throughout the fight now lies on the floor slices in pieces from the sword having many impacts into Daniel’s body. Each cut on his skin had just missed from being fatal; showing how Daniel is in the fight of his life right now. His knuckles are covered in scrapes but even with all these injuries he still finds the willpower to lift them up in his muay thai fighting style stance; ready to continue until his heart stops beating. The assassin in white shows barely any form of injury from this fifteen minute war. His uniform is practically still beaming with the bright white colors as if it were fresh out of the laundry room from a deep washing. There are few strands of red that seeped deep into the fabric. This is not the blood from him but rather Daniel’s blood that had sprayed out in his general direction. The white gloves are covered in Daniel’s blood, even having some rips across his knuckles where the fabric detached from impacting onto his skull. The sword drips with his blood as well, having been used to slice into the super soldier’s skin many a time since this began. “You don’t know when to quit, do you boy?...” The assassin asks as he begins to swing his blade around his right hand causing Daniel’s blade to swing off the blade and onto the snow around them. Daniel laughs a bit before spitting out blood once more and replying with, “No…Because to quit is to die. And if I am to die…I am going out guns blazing and giving it everything I’ve got!” After saying this, he charges forward with a fierce superman punch and begins to give this assassin everything he can dish out. Daniel’s punches still move swiftly like water and even mixing in kicks to try and throw this assassin off guard. So much time has passed with such high speeds of movement that fatigue sets in for both fighters. Even with that it is clear to see that Daniel is on the weakened edge of the blade as his breathing becomes heavier and his fists swing slower with each punch thrown. Daniel swings for the fences with a left hook and the assassin simply slides to his right while ducking under the punch. His right foot plants into the snow and he practically leaps forward with his own right fist cocked. As he launches forward towards Daniel, the super soldiers arm is still in its swinging motion and exposing the left side of his face. Just the few inches that he gives causes the assassin to pound his fist onto his cheek and a bone shattering crunch echoes through the front gate! Daniel’s body spins around like a top as blood spews out from his lips. His arms fall to a dangle as if the life had been punched out of his body. The body of the super soldier falls to the ground, hitting his chest first into the snow. The impact creates a loud thud sound, causing even some of the archers holding security for the castle to cringe a bit at the sight of Daniel hitting the ground the way he does. With all the might in the world, a powerful punch like could put any normal human down for the count and possibly have killed them. The assassin looks down at his right hand as it still holds the sword, which added a lot of the final kick in that punch, and he begins to walk to where the challenger’s body lies on the ground. With all of his strength and all of his soul yelling at him Daniel actually begins to come too once more. Only the sound of soft groans from his shattered jaw can be heard as he motions his hands up to push him back to all fours. Blood dribbles out from his lips and a splitting ringing sound fills his ears; blinding out any sound around him. His legs shake tremendously as he gives it everything he has to get himself up to one knee. “You have the will of a titan, young one…But this is where your story ends. You have fought with honor and you will die an honorable death…May the afterlife welcome you into its embrace…” The Assassin says before rising up with his sword to strike Daniel down. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3gXlzjxhaw ) With his back facing the assassin, Daniel can’t even hear the assassin talk about honor and his will to fight this long. Daniel’s body is only acting now out of instinct and primal genetics to see himself survive this ordeal. The assassin places his sword above his head and slashes downward to try and slice Daniel in half. It is at that moment time begins to slow down around Daniel. Not in a literal sense but in the fact that his body is fully dipping into the brain capacity that Daniel truly can utilize. His eyes lift up slightly to see that the snowflakes are falling much slower now and he is even able to see the full body of these flakes. His senses are extremely heightened at this moment to the point that he can actually hear the blade slicing through the snowflakes that are in the air. Daniel’s eyes widen at the sound of the flakes being sliced to pieces, thus forcing his body to react. Using the last bit of strength he has the mighty super soldier spins his body around and raises his arms up towards the blade. With a speedy clap of his hands Daniel actually causes the blade to be caught in between his hands just mere inches away from his forehead. His arms begin to shake from the pressure and strength that the assassin is applying to try and rip through Daniel’s hands. Groans of pain escape through his mouth as he holds the sword in between both of his hands. Lifting himself up to a standing position the assassin begins to look stunned as Daniel shows a second wind. The hazel-green eyes of the super soldier practically glow as Daniel out strengths the assassin to actually lift the sword higher in the air now. With one quick motion Daniel thrusts his head forward to smash his forehead into the nose of the assassin! This knocks him down on his ass and shows a bright red stain beginning to appear over the mask that the assassin wears. Keeping his grip on the blade, Daniel holds onto the sword as he stands tall but weak in the snow. The Assassin rolls onto his feet with fury in his eyes ready to kill Daniel without showing any mercy. Before he can do this however, there is a loud thunderous voice that appears on the overpass that yells, “ ENOUGH!” Everyone begins to look and see a very tall male with flowing brown hair that drapes down passed his shoulders. He wears a red armor setting, similar to a samurai/ninja mesh. His arms stand crossed with black eyes staring down at the two fighters. His expression is one of seriousness and it is obvious by the reactions of all the people that he is a very important role in whatever cult this is. Father.jpg “Father…” The Assassin says before lowering himself down to one knee in a respectful bow. “I was giving the test to an outsider…” “I have been watching…” Father says with a stern tone. “This one shows great promise…If he can learn and adapt, he will prosper here…Bring him in, my Son.” The Assassin rises to his feet and quickly interjects by saying, “But Father he did not pass the te-.” But before he could finish, black eyes turn to fire as the thunderous tone returns, “Did I ask for insubordination!?...Or did I order you to bring him into our home!? Remember your place, Boy!...” A quick nod of the head and a, “Yes, Father…” is all he says before he looks over to Daniel. “Welcome…To The Black Hand….” The Man Of Secrets ////Present time at Daniel’s condo\\\\ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjiMq2OtZlY ) High above on the 42nd floor of skyscraper Daniel’s condo stands as one of the greatest and most expensive places to live in Kasaihana City. The bubbling city lives like an organism and still on this night beats with the life. Inside the condo however is another story as Daniel lays across his bed with his back rested up against the head board. His thousand dollar soft and bed set covered in blood with his armor placed on the floor. The Spade walks around the room placing each piece in its place so that the armor is not in the way of the room. Injured.jpg The stab wounds are covered with wrapping and filled with combat gauze to stop the bleeding on both sides of his body. His upper body is wearing a loose tank top and sweat pants cover his lower body. His eyes slowly begin to flutter open as he begins to come too. For anyone else this injury would have surely killed them. But his Super Soldier physiology allows his body to fight off the toxins used by The Man in White and even already begin to heal his wounds. As he lays there he can feel his healing factor working at a rapid pace to get him back into fighting condition. Daniel tries to sit himself up higher and get out of bed but as he does this he groans out in pain with his arms being unable to really move from where the placement of his injuries had occurred. Before he can really do any more harm to himself by moving, The Spade runs back over to him and softly places her hands across his body to have him lay back down. “Don’t move. You’ll only hurt yourself, dummy.” She says with a very caring tone. Hazel-Green eyes stare up towards her with the expression of surprise practically plastered over his face. “What are you doing here, Rachel?...” He forces himself to ask with a raspy low tone of voice. The Space smirks down towards him while playfully poking his nose, “I am going to take that as your manly way of saying, ‘thank you, Rachel, for saving my life. You’re the bestest person everest.’” She then pushes at his thigh to give her some room on the bed before sitting down next to him. “You always did have such a way with words, hubby.” “Don’t call me that…” He quickly says with frustration beginning to appear in his voice. “Fine…” A blank tone replies as her expression becomes serious. “For someone who was on their death bed a few hours ago you sure are pretty cranky…” After saying this she pops a bubble of her black colored gum and continues talking, “I’ve been keeping your families tail off of you for the past few years…Giving you a chance ta ya know…Live a normal life…” Daniel’s right eye brow slowly rises and he says, “I never asked you to do any of that…” “Of course you didn’t…You’d rather take a bullet in the eye than to have someone god forbid help you.” She gives a sarcastic shrug of her shoulders, “But I did it anyways…Alas not all things can last forever and they found you…Being known as a hero in one of the biggest cities in the world isn’t exactly something that I can keep from them finding out, baby.” He groans out of anger but he can see that she was only trying to help a bad situation. Her right hand slowly moves across his chest before coming to cup his cheek softly. As she does this her thumb wipes away some dirt that had been on his face from the fight. “Besides…what kind of wife am I if I let my husband die?” She asks with a seductive tone before leaning down to press her lips onto his. Just as she is about to kiss him he stops her by saying, “Wait…” Her eyes widen a bit in confusion, not really expecting him to want to stop her from kissing him. “We can’t play that game anymore, Rach…I’m…I’m not your husband…Not anymore…” She leans back up to her seated position with her body filled with an attitude as she places her hand on her chest and raises a brow with confusion. “Since when the fuck has our divorce ever stopped us from doing this?” Then something clicks in her head that switches her to have an expression as if she had just figured it all out. “Who’s the girl?” She simply asks with a sarcastic smile beginning to form on her face. Hearing the question causes Daniel’s face to create a soft reddish hue under his eyes, “What makes you think it has something to do with me seeing someone else?” “Oh come on, Danny…We both know you’d never say no unless….”Her eyes widen as she playfully smacks at his abs with her right hand. “You must REALLY like this girl!” “Shut up…” Is his response before he looks away from her to hide his embarrassed facial expression. “Awwww, Danny. Such a heartless romantic you are.” Her voice like a dreamy school girl as she crosses her arms across his abs and lays her head down on them, resting her head on his body. “I’m happy for you, hun. You deserve to be happy for a change…” As bad luck for Daniel would have it, the sound of a form of gun weapon system is cocked for use and it gets both of their attention. Daniel simply turns to look while Rachel lifts her head towards the sound like a dog who hears their owner coming home from work. Standing in the corner of the room is a tall full bodied red-head in a very signature armor set up. The vigilante known as Night Crawler stands with her left hand holding her grappling hook gun with a blunt tip pointed up towards the ceiling. Her black armor is mixed with a sleek yellow trim around specific areas with a logo very similar to Daniel’s on her chest. Seeing this woman brings Rachel to smile widely with the thought that this is probably the woman in Daniel’s life. Tina01.jpg “Hi…The name’s His Girlfriend…” Tina says with a mixture of sarcasm and anger. “Your name is?...Oh right…It’s NOT His Girlfriend…” Her eyes squint down to a point now as she aims the gun towards the woman sitting on the bed. Rachel being the klutz that she is, keeps her hands on Daniel’s abs and looks at him instead of Tina, “Oh my God this is her isn’t it!?” She asks giddy with joy. That all changes when Tina pulls the trigger on her weapon and the blunt tip fires out of the barrel and pegs Rachel right on the forehead with enough force to cause her to fall off the bed all together; forcing her to land on the floor with a thud sound. The tip spins around the air a bit before bouncing on the floor while Rachel groans out in pain and laughter. “I don’t like people playing with my stuff…” Tina’s tone even getting Daniel to give an expression of ‘oh shit’ written across his face. Popping her head up like a cat Rachel perks back into Tina’s view now with a bright red mark on her forehead. That wacky smile is still on her face, which makes Tina feel a little weird about the whole situation. She hasn’t even noticed yet that Daniel’s bed is covered in his own blood and that his tank top reveals the two injuries because of the blood. “Well, Danny here got himself shanked a couple of times and needed his ex-wife to come save him.” Tina looks at Daniel while shaking her head, “Oh really? An ex-wife? Didn’t think of mentioning that at all?” Rachel laughs a little bit at Daniel as he is forced to just sit there and try and come up with something to say. Daniel could feel Tina’s anger about the situation but there isn’t much he can do with not being able to really move. That is when Tina shows how much she actually cares about her Super Soldier boyfriend. She lifts her mask to reveal her face to both of them now as she makes her way over to the bed. Rachel leans closer to Daniel and whispers playfully, “Damn…She’d hot…Way outta your league.” Tina grabs Rachel by the ear and comically moves her off of the bed. “ow ow ow ow! That hurts ya know!” Rachel yells out before Tina moves to take her place sitting next to Daniel. Tina’s fingertips begin to trace the large male’s muscles before resting them softly around his injuries. “Looks like you have a lot of explaining to do here, Riding Hood…” Hearing her call him by that name gives him a soft smile a bit responding with, “I will, Red. I promise.” He then forces himself to lean forward a bit, “But if you don’t kiss me right now then you will be in more trouble than I am in right now.” Tina rolls her eyes before placing her left hand under his chin to pull him closer to her, “You wish this would get you out of trouble.” After speaking to him she’d firmly place her lips onto his in a tender embrace. Some time passes between the three of them, Daniel fills Tina in on everything that had happened. They all sit around the dining table in the condo while drinking tea to calm them down. By this point Daniel’s healing factor has come into play completely and fully healed his injuries to where he can remove the bandages. With his hands wrapped around his cup his hazel green hues stare into Tina’s ocean blue eyes because he knows what he is about to say next will be tough for Tina to hear. He takes a deep breath in before speaking to her with a calm tone, “Rachel and I are going to go after the people who attacked me…” Tina’s face transforms to anger and shock before she yells out back to Daniel, “Why on God’s Earth would you go after the people who nearly killed you!?” Rachel tries to chime in by responding to that question by explaining, “This isn’t about hunting them down…but more so getting them to stop hunting Danny down.” “I wasn’t asking you!” Tina’s voice roars with anger as she glares Rachel down with an expression that could melt diamonds. “If you think you are doing this with her you have something else coming! I am going with you! There is no way in HELL you just leave me here to wait like some damsel in distress!” Being yelled at like that brings Rachel to slowly raise her hands up to her chest before slowly walking out of the room to give the two love birds a chance to talk. Surprisingly, Daniel keeps his head straight and lets Tina express her anger before continuing the conversation. Daniel simply shakes his head before taking a drink from his cup. “This has nothing to do with you being a damsel…” He gets up from his chair and begins to make his way over to Tina, sitting on his knee in front of her chair. “This is about my family. There are things I have yet to share with you about my past…This unfortunately…is one of them…” His hands reach out to take hers while he continues explaining the situation. “I need you to trust me, Red…” Tina moves her hands to place them upon his cheeks with an expression of fear on her face, practically feeling her heart sink into her stomach as she asks, “Why her? Why do you have to do this with her?” He smirks a bit before leaning up to playfully place a kiss on her nose, something Daniel had come to do repeatedly with Tina before he answers her questions. “It has to be Rachel…” His words come out slow as if he dreads the idea of saying this to her. “Because this mission will bring nothing but death and an amount of blood more people will ever see in their lifetime…” He leans into her hands as she cups his face close to her. “I have seen what killing and being about death does to people…Each time they see it…it takes a piece of their soul…And.” Daniel presses his forehead onto hers gently. “I won’t let any part of your soul be ruined by this…” Tina shakes her head while looking down as a small tear flows down from her right eye. “You come home to me, Riding Hood…” She then stares up at him to kiss his face multiple times while trying to hold back tears from her eyes. “You promise me…That you will come home…” “I promise you…” He says softly before lifting her up from her chair to where her chest would be pressed against his and her legs wrapped around his waist. “I’ll be home to finish our date night and for every other night of our lives…You’ll have to deal with my cocky ass until we get old and grey, Red.” He gives off a soft laugh before kissing her to make her feel at ease with the mission; which she never will fully be. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9BL59uiAz8 ) After saying his goodbyes to his girlfriend, the mighty super soldier heads to the roof of his condo building where Rachel stands on the edge of the building with the wind blowing in her face. Daniel walks through the door wearing his armor set with the holes of the katanas still present, even through the leather jacket that he wears over the armor. He holds the bright crimson helmet in his hands as the memories of his past come into his mind. Everything that he had been through, the years of training he had to take with this organization that the assassins are from. It had all began to come back to him now. Daniel6.jpg He steps on the ledge of the building with Rachel while placing the helmet on over his face. Bright blue lights begin to flutter on once he places the helmet in its secure position. The HUD comes online and thousands of bytes of data begins to stream to him within that instant. He then looks to his right to see Rachel just staring out into the night sky as the cold air hits the two of them. The duo is dressed for war with enough weaponry to last them any battle and for what they foresee, it will all be needed. “I know you want to protect her, Danny…But what good is it to keep her hidden in the dark about your life? Does she even know about-.” Before she can continue, Daniel speaks up with a very stern tone, “No…She doesn’t…And until it has to come up as an absolute certainty…She never will find out…” “These secrets you keep about yourself…They aren’t good. You already lost one marriage because of that…Do you really want to lose another woman you love because you want to keep your life a secret?” Rachel asks while crossing her arms. Daniel remains silent for a few seconds before avoiding the question all-together by asking, “So where so we start, Rachel?...How do we find them?” Rachel shakes her head with disappointment, “Still the same ole, Danny…” She sighs a bit before continuing with, “We have to go where it all began…Where you were reborn…” Rachel turns to stare at Daniel now with her tone cracking a bit with her next statement, “Where you killed your family, Danny…”